Four states of adventure
Scenes from the southwest
 
Fireworks
 
 
Golden sparks
 
 
Red, white and blue
 
 
Layers of fireworks
 
 
Big Dipper over the house
 
 
Sunset on McIntosh Lake
 
 
Rain to the west
 
 
Great Blue Heron looking for a snack
 
 
Sunflower
 
 
Misty Presidential Range
 
 
The Gunnison River near Black Canyon of the Gunnison
 
 
Along the Gunnison River
 
 
Gunnison River with haze from the wildfire in the canyon
 
 
Craggy peaks on the approach to Ouray, CO, from the north
 
 
Ouray, CO
 
 
Leaving Ouray on the Million Dollar Highway
 
 
Looking down on Ouray from the climb out
 
 
Tucked in the mountains
 
 
Switzerland of America
 
 
Million Dollar Highway tunnel
 
 
Waterfall along the highway
 
 
Red Mountain outside Silverton
 
 
Silverton, CO
 
 
Animas River, Silverton
 
 
Durango & SIlverton RR heading back to Durango
 
 
Southbound
 
 
Silverton door
 
 
Raven of Durango
 
 
Entrance stairs to Balcony House at Mesa Verde
 
 
Mesa Verde National Park
 
 
The descent to Balcony House
 
 
Narrow path along the cliff face
 
 
The first ladder
 
 
32 feet high ladder to enter Balcony House
 
 
The top of the ladder and the canyon below
 
 
Peeking through a window into the second chamber
 
 
Balcony House detail
 
 
The view from Balcony House
 
 
Detail of soot and ghost walls
 
 
Window
 
 
Passageway to the second chamber
 
 
Detail of wooden vigas
 
 
Balcony House kiva
 
 
Kiva ventilation shaft
 
 
Clff Palace, Mesa Verde
 
 
Clff Palace
 
 
Cliff Palace dark rocks
 
 
Path up Clff Palace
 
 
Clff Palace kiva
 
 
Looking down into a kiva
 
 
The round hole in the kiva floor is the Sipapu, where they believe their ancestors emerged into this world
 
 
One of the more than 600 cliff dwellings scattered around Mesa Verde
 
 
Exiting Cliff Palace
 
 
Dark rocks by the exit
 
 
The Ancestral Puebloans would have used hand and foot holds in the rocks, not a ladder
 
 
Fire damage from a wildfire at Mesa Verde
 
 
Another hidden dwelling
 
 
The Square Tower House
 
 
Many vigas still intact
 
 
Detail of kivas
 
 
A lizard whose tail is growing back
 
 
Pit house on the mesa (cuesta)
 
 
Detail on the Sun Temple, with what looks like water drainage
 
 
View from the Sun Temple
 
 
view of Cliff Palace from the Sun Temple
 
 
Vigas intact in a kiva at the Far View SItes
 
 
Circular detail on the south side of a wall
 
 
Detail in relation to the site
 
 
Expansive view on the way down from Mesa Verde
 
 
Sandstone cuestas, plains and rocky peaks
 
 
Coming down from Mesa Verde
 
 
The La Plata range
 
 
Ute Mountain
 
 
Outside Towaoc, CO
 
 
The desert of extreme southwest Colorado
 
 
Four Corners National Monument - Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah
 
 
Four Corners
 
 
Four Corners survey marker
 
 
Cane cholla
 
 
Looking towards Arizona/Utah from Four Corners
 
 
Horses grazing the desert in Arizona
 
 
Dangerous desert
 
 
World Famous Four Corners Monument
 
 
Welcome to the Navajo Nation
 
 
The road to Arizona
 
 
Welcome to Arizona
 
 
Arizona highway
 
 
Ship Rock in New Mexico
 
 
Lobato Mesa
 
 
Ashley Pond Park, Los Alamos, New Mexico
 
 
Los Alamos historical marker
 
 
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory marker
 
 
The Oppenheimer House
 
 
Oppenheimer's house
 
 
The Power House on Bathtub Row
 
 
Los Alamos National Lab gate
 
 
Original guard tower
 
 
Santa Fe, New Mexico, art
 
 
The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe
 
 
Santa Fe walkway
 
 
Dragon in Santa Fe
 
 
Santa Fe Pioneer Monument
 
 
Cathedral rose window
 
 
Entering the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Very Large Array outside Magdalena, New Mexico
 
 
VLA self-guided tour stops
 
 
VLA sundial detail with dishes in the background
 
 
Names of scientists who visited
 
 
VLA in the C configuration
 
 
One of the 27 94 foot dishes
 
 
Music of the spheres
 
 
Dishes and the rail system
 
 
No Parking
 
 
The array
 
 
Prototype for the next generation dish
 
 
Fixed dish
 
 
Antenna Barn
 
 
Rail transporter
 
 
Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe
 
 
Santa Fe door
 
 
Santa Fe wares
 
 
Santa Fe Plaza at dusk
 
 
Great Blue Heron on the McIntosh Lake shore
 
 
WIldfire smoke sunset
 
 
WIldfire smoke sunrise